What are we listening to? (audiobooks)

[booklover6]

Network Effect (Murderbot 5) by Martha Wells. I think it's too long. I liked the shorter ones much better.

[SeaBookGuy]

The Murderer in Ruins by Cay Rademacher. This is one where Mark Meadows' narration makes audio a no-brainer for this murder mystery set in postwar Germany. It's $5 combined Kindle/Audible package.

[Tarana]

I started the year with The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer. Been a long time since I've listened to Regency Romance. Cornelius Garrett was an excellent narrator. Better than most in this genre.

Followed that with a reread of Pines by Blake Crouch and went right into Wayward (book 2). Now on The Last Town which is book 3 and final book in the series. I'm really enjoying these! Excellent pace. Paul Michael Garcia narrates all 3 and does a great job!

[taosaur]

I finished the last Elderling Realms book yesterday, and yes, it was a good ending. Reflecting on the whole series (or at least all the Fitz and The Fool books), I'm satisfied and impressed. The role of family and the scope of friendships in the book were really well grounded, and more central in many ways than the epic events. The series suffered a bit from "Didn't we save the world last time?" syndrome, with sometimes less-than-deft retconning, but those issues were offset by the extent that Hobb let her characters and her world change in response to events.

Coincidentally, Hobb did an AMA on Reddit yesterday, and she is very much still working: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/com...obb_ama_today/ Apparently she was in the midst of prep work for an Elderlings book where cross-species disease transmission would play a large part, when current events dampened her enthusiasm for that project.

I grabbed Brent Weeks' first Lightbringer book from the library last night, but it feels a bit "more of the same," so I might have to change direction with some sci-fi or urban fantasy. I've been having trouble drumming up enthusiasm for the new Dresden books, but I might go that way. Something more magical realist or psychedelic is tempting, but I can't think of anything on my TBR. Murakami's last novel got decent reviews, so I might give that a go.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Finished up Peace Talks yesterday. Very well done. James Marsters really is top notch.
The book had a different feel to it that when I read the eBook, I also noticed different things more. Maybe it's because I already know how it's going to end, so I'm noticing the nuances more, or maybe it's just how Marsters reads it.

The question now is do I go directly to Battle Ground (because it really is one long book) or do I break it up with something else. Decisions, decisions...

Went with Battle Ground, because it really is just one long book.

As I mentioned in the Apple forum, Apple confirmed that Books on CarPlay no longer supports Categories and the like, so I've switched to using the Audible app, which does support Categories. I'm still not sure if it was really a design decision or not.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

The new year opens with me reading four audiobooks:
• Audible: Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition by The Great Courses, narrated by various professors
• Chirp: Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, narrated by Mel Foster (reread of a Kindle book)
• Hoopla: The Mysterious Mr. Quin by Agatha Christie, narrated by Hugh Fraser
• Librivox: The Children of Odin by Pádraic Colum, narrated by Elizabeth Klett

It's been so long since I'd read any of the Harley Quin stories I'd forgotten just how pleasurable they are. It's certainly the one book I look forward to the most in my current rotation of audiobooks.

I may have read some of these stories before, but it's been so very many years I can't be sure. My mother was a huge fan of anything Agatha Christie wrote.

[SeaBookGuy]

A couple of hours into a really wierd mystery: Gallows Court by Martin Edwards. Set in 1930 London, it's quite dark and edgy. I like the narration, though some reviewers complain (they went with a different reader for the recent sequel).

[Paperbackstash]

I finished Nightbooks by J.A. White on Scribd, and now am on The Woman on the Orient Express via Audible - it is one of those cheap upgrade deals if you own the e-book, only 1.99 for the audible companion. Both are pretty good.

[WT Sharpe]

I just finished the Harley Quin series of short stories by Agatha Christie. Well, except for the novel Three Act Tragedy, which is a Hercule Poirot story rather than a Harley Quin tale. In fact, it doesn't mention the mysterious Mr. Quin at all, but his friend Mr. Satterswaith is featured prominently, so I felt it necessary to listen to it in the name of completeness. Hugh Fraiser is the narrator of all the short stories and the Poirot novel, with the exception of "The Affair at the Victory Ball," which was narrated by Charles Armstrong. "The Affair at the Victory Ball" was also a Hercule Poirot short story. It contained neither Mr. Quin nor Mr. Satterswaith, but I felt it had a place in the Quin canon because one of the key elements in the story is someone dressed as a harlequin at a costume ball. Was the mysterious Mr. Quin somehow involved in this one? There's no telling what was going on in Agatha Christie's mind when she teased us with these little stunts.

[Tarana]

Since last post, I finished McNally's Secret and McNally's Luck by Lawrence Sanders and narrated by Victor Bevine. These are the first 2 books in the Archy McNally mystery series. Cozy series featuring a playboy in Palm Beach who does 'discreet enquiries' for his lawyer father. Bevine is SO great to listen to...

Also just finished a psychological thriller entitled The House Guest by Mark Edwards. Narrated by Will M. Watt and Stina Nielsen. Excellent jobs by both.

[SeaBookGuy]

Started The Mandelbaum Gate by Muriel Spark, read by the infamous Frederick Davidson (David Case). All but one of her titles appears to be included as free Audible Plus listens.

[Tarana]

Just starting The Void Trilogy by Peter F Hamilton and narrated by John Lee. Had to set it aside due to my Mom's TV failure and subsequent interruptions. Got the new TV Wednesday, it failed yesterday afternoon, exchanged for new one last night, and now need help to assemble the new one. Once I have her all set up and programmed, I'll be able to return to book 1 Dreaming Void. Oh, and we're getting 6" of snow between now and tomorrow morning. I might switch to something else for a day or so. Hamilton is actually hard to listen to with chronic interruptions. Great stories though.

[SeaBookGuy]

Most of the way through Muriel Spark's The Mandelbaum Gate, which I feel I could've ditched, but will finish it. Some folks dislike Frederick Davidson as a narrator, though not me. Here, it's the story that doesn't work.

[Catlady]

Devoured The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse, narrated by Elizabeth Knowelden, in two days. This was thoroughly entertaining, gothicky suspense set in a former TB sanatorium converted to a hotel, in the Swiss Alps. Throw in an avalanche, mutilated dead bodies, a vacationing detective with issues, relics of the building's unsavory history, and dollops of lies and misdirection--it all made for a compelling debut novel. The year is young, but so far it's the best novel of 2021.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

Most of the way through Muriel Spark's The Mandelbaum Gate, which I feel I could've ditched, but will finish it. Some folks dislike Frederick Davidson as a narrator, though not me. Here, it's the story that doesn't work.

I think this ranking of Spark’s novels is interesting; Mandelbaum Gate middle of the pack.

https://philipchristman.com/2014/06/...novels-ranked/

Love Frederick Davidson, although I don’t know that he’s the best choice for a novel with a female protagonist. His women’s voices are a weak point.